Digital Television Captioning Summit National Center for Accessible Media Advanced Television Systems Committee March 14, 2001 Washington, D.C. Presentation by: Karen Peltz Strauss Deputy Bureau Chief Consumer Information Bureau Federal Communications Commission

Consumer Information Network Division Reference Information Center Consumer Education Office Strategic Information Office Disabilities Rights Office Administrative Office Office of the Bureau Chief Systems Support Office Deputy Bureau Chief CONSUMER INFORMATION BUREAU ORGANIZATION CHART

DISABILITIES RIGHTS OFFICE Review relevant agenda items and other documents prepared by other bureaus to ensure conformance with existing disabilitylaws and policies Provide advice and assistance to other Bureaus, to members of the industry, and to the consuming public on disability laws and policies Prepare and conduct rulemaking proceedings related to disability access

DISABILITIES RIGHTS OFFICE CONT. Assist consumer representatives (Consumer Advocacy Mediation Specialists) at Consumer Centers on disability-relatedquestions and complaints Work with Consumer Centers and Enforcement Bureau on resolving consumer complaints Work with Consumer Education Office on outreach and education pertaining to disability issues Prepare Commission materials in accessible formats

100% new (non-exempt) programming: captioned by % older (non-exempt) programming: captioned by % Spanish language (non-exempt) programming: captioned by 2010 CLOSED CAPTIONING

TELEVISON CLOSED CAPTIONING Implementation Schedules: New Programming: all programming exhibited after January 1, : 450 hours of captioned programming/channel/calendar quarter 2002: 900 hours of captioned programming/channel/calendar quarter 2004: 1350 hours of captioned programming/channel/calendar quarter 2006: 100% captioned programming, excluding exempted programming

TELEVISON CLOSED CAPTIONING Implementation Schedules: Pre-rule Programming: All programming first shown before January 1, : 30% of captioned programming/channel/calendar quarter 2008: 75% of captioned programming/channel/calendar quarter, excluding exempted programming

TELEVISON CLOSED CAPTIONING Implementation Schedules: Spanish Language Programming: New Programming: 2001: 450 hours of captioned programming/channel/calendar quarter 2004: 900 hours of captioned programming/channel/calendar quarter 2007: 1350 hours of captioned programming/channel/calendar quarter 2010: 100% captioned programming, excluding exempted programming

TELEVISON CLOSED CAPTIONING Implementation Schedules: Spanish Language Programming: Pre-rule Programming: 2005: 30% of captioned programming/channel/calendar quarter 2012: 75% hours of captioned programming/channel/calendar quarter

DIGITAL PROGRAMMING Pre-rule: Programming prepared for display on DTV receivers before July 1, 2002 New: Programming prepared for display on DTV receivers after July 1, 2002 In order to be counted under the Commission ’ s captioning guidelines, programming distributors must transmit captions capable of being decoded. Captions created for use in analog may be upconverted to be transmitted in EIA-708 for digital delivery.

TELEVISON CLOSED CAPTIONING EXEMPTIONS: Overnight programming (between 2 a.m. - 6 a.m.) Advertisements under 5 minutes Public Service Announcement (except federally produced) Locally produced programming with limited repeat value Non-English programming (except Spanish) Primarily textual programming New networks (first 4 years of existence) Video Program Providers with revenues under $3 million/year

TELEVISON CLOSED CAPTIONING Local News: Real-time Captioning Mandated For: 4 major national broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC) Television affiliates of these networks in the top 25 television markets National nonbroadcast networks (e.g., cable) serving at least 50% of the total number of households subscribing to video programming services Electronic Newsroom Technique (uses pre-scripted text that appears on the teleprompter) - permitted for other networks and stations for the present time

ACCESS TO TELEVISED EMERGENCY PROGRAMMING May 2000: FCC Report and Order - requires television programming distributors to make televised emergency program- ming accessible to persons who are deaf and hard of hearing Covers broadcasters, cable operators, satellite television services Access may be through closed captions, or other visual methods, including open captioning or scrolls that appear on the screen Requires information about areas affected by the emergency, details on ways to respond, instructions on how to obtain assistance, school and road closings, shelters, etc.

DIGITAL TELEVSION (DTV) RECEIVERS REPORT AND ORDER Released July 31, Effective July 1, 2002 In the Matter of Closed Captioning Requirements for Digital Television Receivers, Closed Captioning and Video Description of Video Programming, Implementation of Section 305 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Video Programming Accessibility ET Docket No ; MM Docket No Adopts technical standards for the display of closed captions on digital television Television Decoder Circuitry Act: FCC must take appropriate action to ensure that closed captioning services remain available as new technology is developed.

Incorporates minimums of Section 9 of EIA–708B: recommended practices for DTV closed captioning decoder manufacturers Requires additional capabilities contained in EIA–708 “to ensure that closed captioning will be accessible for the greatest number of persons who are deaf and hard of hearing.” Adds a new Section to Commission ’ s rules (found at 47 C.F.R.) DIGITAL TELEVSION RECEIVERS FCC REPORT AND ORDER

Coverage: DTV sets with widescreen displays inches vertically DTV sets with conventional displays - 13 inches diagonally Stand-alone DTV tuners and converter boxes (whether or not marketed with display screens) Converter boxes used to display digital programming on analog receivers – must deliver encoded analog caption information Dual mode receivers: receiver must be able to decode captions while operating in analog or digital mode Other TV interface devices – e.g., VCRs, DVD players, personal video recorders – must pass through closed captions intact to DTV decoder DIGITAL TELEVSION RECEIVERS FCC REPORT AND ORDER CONT.

DECODER OPERATION FEATURES CAPTION SIZE: Decoders must support standard, small, and large caption sizes FONTS: Decoders must have ability to display 8 fonts in EIA-708 COLOR: Decoders must support 8 colors of EIA-708 – white, black, red, green, blue, yellow, magenta, cyan – background and foreground OPACITY: Decoders must implement transparent, translucent, solid, and flashing character attributes CHARACTER EDGE: Decoders must implement varied character edge surrounding body of the characters, including none, raised, depressed, uniform, or drop shadowed

APPLICATION CAPTION PROVIDER CHOICE/CONSUMER OVERIDE: Decoders must display features (size, font, color) chosen by caption provider unless overridden by consumer selection. PRESERVATION OF DISPLAY OPTIONS: Customized caption display options must be saved when receiver is switched off; default setting for customized options required. CAPTIONING SERVICES: Decoders must be able to decode and process captioning data for 6 standard services in EIA- 708 (display of only 1 service at a time). Multiple languages Easy-to-read captions for children

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